Spotted Sleeper
Guavina Machada
(Eleotris picta

Spotted Sleeper, Eleotris picta: The Spotted Sleeper is dark brown to blue gray in coloration and has a series of white spots covering its body. Its fins are dark with transparent spots, producing alternating bands of black and white.

The Spotted Sleeper has 7 spines in the first dorsal fin. The head is broad and depressed with small eyes and a large oblique mouth with a strongly projecting lower lip. The gill openings are well back, ending just before the origin of the first dorsal fin.

The Spotted Sleeper has a very long tail base and a very large rounded caudal fin. The Spotted Sleeper reaches a maximum length of 12 inches. It is found in water at elevations of up to 300 feet, preferring low volume or stagnant fresh water with year-round temperatures between 25 and 33 degrees centigrade.

The Spotted Sleeper hides out in rocks and bushes during the day and is a carnivorous ambush feeder at night, dining on fish and crustaceans.

Distribution in Mexico fishing areas

In Mexican fishing waters the Spotted Sleeper is found in all rivers that feed the Pacific Ocean around the tip of the Baja California peninsula, in the lower half of the Sea of Cortez, and along the coast of the Mexican mainland south to Guatemala.

The Spotted Sleeper is a member of the Eleotridae Family, which includes the gudgeons and the sleepers. Globally there are 150 members of the Eleotridae Family found in 35 genera, of which 20 members are from the Eleotris Genus. All family members are found in fresh (agua dulce) and brackish waters, expiring quickly if the salinity becomes excessive.

Eleotridae are characterized by having deep bodies with the deepest part occurring before the second dorsal fin, two distinct dorsal fins, a broad head with a short snout and large oblique mouth, a short dorsal fin base, no lateral line, and bodies covered with scales. A key to identification is that the first dorsal fin has seven spines versus six in the similar appearing members of the Hemieleotris Genus, and the base of the second dorsal fin is shorter than the distance between it and the caudal fin.

Spotted Sleeper Fish picture 1

Spotted Sleeper Fish picture 2

Spotted Sleeper Fish picture 3

Spotted Sleeper picture 4

Spotted Sleeper, Eleotris picta: First fish (top three photos) caught in August 2008 out of the San José River while fishing with a cast net during a breach in the barrier, length 54 cm, which established a new known maximum length for this species by a full 20 cm. Second fish (bottom photo) caught in same location in January 2011, length 18 cm, and fish with traditional spotting and bandings. Fish identifications courtesy of H.J. Walker, Jr., and confirmed by Dr. Phil Hastings, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, La Jolla, Calif. Description and photos courtesy of John Snow.

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